The Timeguardian
by Chris Atola
Summary: This is to replace Dimensions. It's the story of the time-guardian - hopefully without Mary-Sues! DEAD FIC


Disclaimer: Original characters are mine, the rest belong to their respective owners. That includes the references to various fandoms. The quote from the song, Kahden maan kansalainen, belongs to Pekka Simojoki.  
  
Author's note: Instead of rewriting Dimensions, I'm scrapping it and telling a different story - this time, hopefully, without my self-insert becoming a Mary Sue! I'm trying my hardest to make her as close a copy of myself as possible - with all of the same faults.  
  
Constructive criticism is welcome, (and no, I'm not going to flame you if you do give me con-crit, I know the difference between that and a flame.)  
  
As I've said in some of my earlier fics, if I go and make a mistake canon-wise, please let me know. I might not know I've done it, since most fandoms never make it to Finland, (most kinds of anime, etc...) and so I've got no way to watch the episodes/films or read the comics. My only resources are the internet and fanfiction.  
  
The Time-guardian By Chris Atola  
  
Chapter One  
  
On a dead world in an empty area of space, the Guardian of Forever, a sentient time-portal, watched and waited. After so many millennia, it was becoming lonely, as its only chance at a conversation was almost always light-years or dimensions away. Its loneliness increased tenfold as its link to the time-guardian was abruptly cut off. The person in question had fallen to his death.  
  
The Guardian knew that a new time-guardian would be needed, and that it could have another chance at conversation if it managed to find the right person for the job. It searched through multiple dimensions, trying to find someone to take the former time-guardian's place. Finally, it turned its attention to a small planet called Earth.  
  
It searched the hearts and souls of thousands of people, and found many of promise, but something compelled it to keep looking. Finally its attention was directed to a small farm in the countryside, in a place that few had heard of. There was only one candidate in the house - a seventeen- year-old girl, but she was not as promising as those before her. Nevertheless, something told the Guardian of Forever that she was the one. But why?  
  
Was it because she was a quiet, kind girl who listened rather than talking, or because she was the kind to consider others before herself? Or was it because she had so many faults? Because she was constantly ill, if not with one thing then another? Because she was short and rather overweight, or had such a temper? Because she suffered from a hidden squint, or her oversensitive ears? The Guardian searched for an answer, and found none.  
  
If it could have sighed, it would have. The Guardian sent a compulsion to the girl's mind, instructing her to pack some essentials, and then wait.  
  
She sat bolt upright in front of her computer and her grey eyes turned to look at the suitcase by her bed - left there for when she and her father went to spend weekends wih her mother and younger brother. Without knowing why, she packed a few sets of clothes, CDs and her favourite book, then bolted down the stairs for toiletries and her medications.  
  
As she passed the kitchen cupboard, she picked up her mobile recharge cable and ran up the stairs to her suitcase, packing everything away - and barely managing to close the suitcase.  
  
She lugged the case down the stairs, almost falling over as the case tumbled down, overtaking her halfway. She pulled her outdoor clothes on and picked up the suitcase, waiting patiently. Within moments, she was gone, only to reappear on the barren world codenamed Gateway.  
  
Christina Atola woke as if from a dream, only to find herself on a clearly alien world in front of a great stone ring. "W-where am I? What...? Oh my - oh my golly." She recognised her location, if only because she had read the books describing it so many times. "Gateway..."  
  
She heard a voice which seemed to boom from all directions at once. She had never heard it before, but knew whose it was, regardless.  
  
**Welcome, Chris Atola, to Gateway. I am the Guardian of Forever. You have been chosen as the next time-guardian. Your purpose is to guard the timelines and ensure that no-one changes the flow of time for the worse. The one rule you must abide by is that you must not kill. The penalties are quite severe.  
**  
"But... but what if I don't want to be anything but a normal human?" Chris asked, pushing her glasses further up the bridge of her nose.  
  
**You have no choice. It is your destiny.  
**  
"Hang on, if you're the Guardian of Forever, then..."  
  
**No, I am not just a story. You are no longer in your own dimension. You are in the same dimension described in the television series Star Trek. However, you will not be here for long. You will go to Earth, where you are to follow the first person you see. She will guide you from there.  
**  
...And Chris found herself in a small, beautiful park, deserted but for a felinoid sitting on a bench a few metres away. Her fur was pure black, and her eyes were blue.  
  
"You are Chrisss Atola, are you not?" she asked in a slightly hissing voice. Chris nodded wordlessly, and the felinoid wrapped her tail around her wrist.  
  
"Y-you're a Sivaoan!" Chris realised. The Sivaoan's whiskers arched forward in her own equivalent to a nod.  
  
"My name is Midnight to- Vensre. I've been ordered to introduce you to my nephew, TellTale. Come," she said, pulling Chris along behind her. Chris frantically grabbed her suitcase and followed Midnight.  
  
Midnight led Chris out of the park and into a small house. There was another Sivaoan sitting on the sofa, seemingly about Chris's age - about four and a half in Sivaoan years. Midnight hissed something in her own language, catching the other Sivaoan's attention, and then switched to English.  
  
"TellTale, thisss isss Chrissstina Atola."  
  
TellTale got up from the sofa onto his hind legs, raised his arms, extended his claws and moved one arm back slightly. Chris started, until she remembered that this was an ancient Sivaoan greeting. She struck the same pose, and she and Telltale relaxed simultaneously.  
  
TellTale moved down onto all fours and wrapped his tail around Chris's wrist.  
  
"Hello," Chris said. TellTale's whiskers arched forward and his tail corkscrewed. Chris smiled. Well, being a time-guardian can't be that bad... she thought.  
  
Midnight made a funny noise in the back of her throat, vaguely like a human clearing hers. Chris turned her attention toward the older Sivaoan. Tail shifting behind her, Midnight announced, "It'sss time to go."  
  
Go where? Chris wondered. Her question was answered as Midnight grabbed her and pulled her along for the second time that day, giving her a split second to grab her suitcase. She was pulled out of the building and over to a shuttlepod. As she was pulled inside, Chris just barely caught a glimpse of the world she was leaving behind. The leaves of the trees in the park were a vivid green, almost as bright as the trees at home, but slightly different.  
  
Unbidden the words of a song popped into her mind.  
  
Jalat pidän mullassa maailman,  
  
I keep my feet on the ground of the Earth,  
  
Katseellani taivasta tavoitan,  
  
I reach for the sky with my gaze,  
  
Tiedän minne matkani tehdä saan,  
  
I know where I may travel to,  
  
Olen kansalainen kahden maan.  
  
I am a citizen of two countries.  
  
Those words might have been true once, but now they were incorrect. She might never return to her beloved Earth...  
  
Midnight made Chris sit down in a seat at the back of the craft, and moved to the front. "Are we ready to go?" she asked in Sivaoan.  
  
"Yes, Aunt," TellTale answered in kind. "But where? You never told me."  
  
"Set course for Sivao, but keep the sensors online. We will stop once we find a stranded spacecraft."  
  
Of course Chris understood none of this, so she just stared out the viewport, lost in thought. Her mind was on the family back home, wondering if they would notice her absence, and whether they would worry.  
  
She had not had friends for years, a result of her inability to make or keep them for long, and so family was everything in her mind. Her brother was also practically her best friend, even if they did fight once in a while.  
  
Her thoughts were interrupted by the shuttle slowing down and TellTale saying something in Sivaoan. The shuttle came to a stop, and Chris saw a small ship, probably with a fairly small crew, less than a dozen. It was just sitting there, with no signs of life.  
  
Midnight turned to Chris and said, "This, Chrisss, is your first assignment. There is someone inside that you must speak to. Please step onto the transporter platform," she said, pinning a commucator to Chris's jumper as she spoke.  
  
Nervously, Chris obeyed. Moments later she was on the derelict ship. As Midnight had promised, there was a single Sivaoan sitting with her back to a wall, just to the left. Chris stepped closer, and the Sivaoan, obviously hearing her, opened her eyes.  
  
"So you're the fledgeling time-guardian," she said. Instead of speaking, Chris nodded.  
  
"My name's LongTail to- Sivao. What's yours?"  
  
"My... My name's Christina Atola," Chris stammered.  
  
LongTail wrapped her tail around Chris's wrist, then said, "Listen. I'm probably going to die in a few minutes, but there's something you need to know. I'm a Wanderer. When I die, my soul enters another's body. Since you're the only person alive on this ship, that'll be you. And once I'm in, it's permanent - you can't get rid of me. It'll be like having another personality in your head - and sometimes the host's mind can't take it. They go mad."  
  
"Well, people already think I'm mental because I talk to myself out loud. I'll just have a reason to be committed to a madhouse. Besides, for once I'll have a chance at keeping a friend. Just hope we don't end up hating each other...!" Chris commented, covering her fear with a smile.  
  
"There's more. Sometimes, I'll take over. When that happens, the body we share will become Sivaoan. It'll look like me. But it'll be like a symbiotic relationship. Like..."  
  
"Like the Tok'Ra on Stargate?" Chris asked.  
  
"I don't know what you're talking about, but I think that's it." During the little chat, LongTail's breathing had become laboured. Chris noticed this, and said,  
  
"Do you want to die like this? Or do you want me to speed it up?" She shuddered at the thought.  
  
"No! Killing someone is something a time-guardian can never do. The punishment is terrible!" LongTail exclaimed, her tail stiffening.  
  
Chris took a step back, startled by the sudden increase in volume, and wincing as it rose to a painful level. LongTail noticed this and said,  
  
"Sorry, I didn't mean to be that loud," she rasped. Moments later, her breathing stopped, and the tail still curled around her wrist loosened, falling to the floor. Chris racked her brains for the knowledge of where to find a Sivaoan's pulse, and finally, she had it. She knelt down by the unconscious Sivaoan and moved her fingers to the base of the tail, feeling for a pulse. Feeling nothing, she stood up and waited.  
  
Suddenly, Chris felt strange. It was like something was brushing up against her brain, fur against her cheek. She felt something brush against her thoughts, and suddenly she 'heard' the thoughts of a complete stranger. It was obvious why some people went mad.  
  
[Are you alright?]  
  
_Yeah, fine. Chris exhaled a breath she hadn't known she was holding.  
_  
[Er... shouldn't you ask the people in the shuttle to beam us back?]  
  
_ Oh, yeah. Okay_. Chris tapped the communicator she'd been given and said, "Midnight? TellTale? I... I think I'm ready to come back..."  
  
There was no verbal aknowledgement, but within moments Chris felt the transporter taking effect. She blinked and found herself on the shuttlecraft. She took a step forward - and promptly lost her balance. She fell to the floor, only reflexes saving her from hitting her head.  
  
TellTale took a step forward, and asked, "Are you alright?"  
  
"I'm... I'm alright... I think."  
  
"Maybe you should sit down," Midnight suggested. She turned to TellTale and said, "Perhaps we should get going. Let's get to Gateway as soon as possible." TellTale arched his whiskers forward and sat down at the controls. Moments later the shuttle moved forward, streaking through space.

So, how was it? Please review and let me know.


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